Seth MacFarlane Wasn't Always 'Embarrassed' To Be Part Of Fox

Actor, writer, producer Seth MacFarlane made headlines recently when he declared on Twitter that he was “embarrassed” to work for the same company that produces Fox News because of how the conservative-leaning network has covered the child migration crisis. He hasn’t always felt that way.

When the Family Guy creator signed a “landmark” $100 million deal with the company now known as 21st Century Fox and was then called News Corp. (the current name of the holding company of Rupert Murdoch’s publishing business) in 2008, he said the following, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

I get a lot of pleasure out of making shows. It's a bonus to be getting paid well for it, and it's a double bonus to be getting paid exorbitantly for it.

The 44-year-old has also appeared on Fox in 2017 to promote his science fiction comedy The Orville, which is part of Fox’s line-up, and in 2014 to generate interest in his critically panned comedy A Million Ways To Die In the West. To be fair, these were short red carpet interviews and as far as I can tell MacFarlane has never appeared on other Fox News shows.

MacFarlane certainly is within his rights to call out Fox News’ Tucker Carlson for encouraging viewers to ignore any reports about the border that don’t come from Fox News. I also applaud him for making a $2 million donation to National Public Radio. However, I wonder why the liberal funnyman has apparently remained silent about his concerns about Fox News until now.

Fox’s 20th Century Fox has been good to MacFarlane. The company resurrected Family Guy in 2005, three years after it was canceled. It stood by him when the series managed to offend practically every special interest group imaginable. Fox gave the green light to MacFarlane for the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show and the animated comedy American Dad. McFarlane also brought back the classic science show Cosmos, which was also shown on Fox and the company’s National Geographic cable channel.

MacFarlane has also benefitted Fox plenty as well. Soon after signing his 2008 deal, Fast Company spoke of MacFarlane’s "$2 billion Family Guy Empire." According to data from iSpot.TV, the show’s 2018 ad revenue topped $133 million. Family Guy was the sixth-most popular show on Fox, averaging about 2.5 million viewers last season, Nielsen says.

Michael Tammaro, a senior vice president of Fox News and Fox Business who also is an entertainment reporter, accused MacFarlane of being a hypocrite, noting that the entertainer was“NOT quite embarrassed enough to not cash that check ... isn’t that right.”

MacFarlane reportedly is negotiating a new deal as 20th Century Fox's future remains in flux until the bidding war over the Fox assets between Walt Disney and Comcast is decided. The Fox broadcast network, however, isn't part of the deal, which could create a problem.

“Despite a largely liberal FBC (Fox Broadcasting Co.) leadership with strong Hollywood relationships, some creators may be hesitant about selling a show to the network amid ongoing calls for people with films and shows at Fox to distance themselves from the company that also owns Fox News,” according to Deadline.com.

Other Fox showrunners including Modern Family’s Steven Levitan, New Girl’s Liz Meriwether and Sons Of Anarchy’s Kurt Sutter have released statements echoing MacFarlane’s views. Even so, they took pains to note that they have good relationships with the management of 20th Century Fox.